You can't keep the Red Sox and Rich Hill apart.
Hill, 42, is in agreement on a one-year deal with the Red Sox, pending the result of a physical, an industry source said. The deal came just hours before the expected announcement from Major League Baseball was locking out the Players Association, creating an offseason work stoppage, the prospect of which droves a mad flurry of free-agent signings across the industry in the last week.
For Hill, a native of Milton and who now lives in South Boston, this will represent his third stint with the Red Sox. He pitched for them between 2010-2012 and later returned to them for the 2015 season.
A 17-year veteran of MLB, Hill has pitched for 11 different franchises in that time with a career record of 74-52 with a 3.80 ERA. Last season, he split time between the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets, going a combined 7-8 with a 3.86 ERA in 32 starts, totaling 158.2 innings. On last year's Boston pitching staff, only Nathan Eovaldi topped that figure with 182.1 innings.
Hill had interest in signing with the Sox last winter, but ultimately chose the Tampa Bay Rays, who then traded him mid-season to the New York Mets.
Hill has been remarkably consistent, though not always durable, over his career. The 158.2 innings he pitched this past season proved to be his biggest workload since he threw a career-high 195 with the 2007 Cubs. Hill has not had an ERA as high as 4.00 since 2013.
BSJ ANALYSIS
Hill profiles as a back-end starter for the Red Sox and could compete with Michael Wacha, briefly a teammate with the Rays last season.
The Red Sox have Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi to head their rotation, joined by Nick Pivetta, Wacha and Hill. In addition, the Sox have two potential rotation candidates in Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock.
If nothing else, the Red Sox have improved their depth with the additions of Wacha, Hill, and for later in the season, James Paxton, who is recovering from April 2021 Tommy John surgery. Even if Hill isn't able to make 30 or more starts, as he did last season, he covers the Red Sox during the year and perhaps buys time for young pitchers like Connor Seabold to further develop, while also potentially buying time for Bryan Mata to recover from Tommy John.
In an era when velocity is so highly valued, Hill has been a success in recent years with a sub-average fastball -- averaging just 88 mph last year -- and a looping curveball that he manages to keep out of the heart of the strike zone. Hill throws those two offerings almost exclusively -- about 91 percent of the time -- while very occasionally mixing in a sinker, cutter and changeup.
Whatever Hill throws, he manages to induce relatively soft contact. According to BaseballSavant.com, he ranked in the 79th percentile when it came to allowing hard contract last season.